Interior

The interior of the FX felt kind of tight and cave-like when I first jumped
into it. I thought it would be a claustrophobia-inducing tight squeeze when I
loaded both of my kids plus a friend of theirs into the backseat. Much to my
surprise, the FX swallowed all three of them easily (the two in outbound
positions were in booster seats). We also managed to squeeze three sets of golf
clubs in the cargo area with room to spare. Shocking! The FX has more usable
interior space than meets the eye.

Despite all that space, there weren't a lot of designated spots to store
stuff. I found myself hoping for an under-floor storage bin in the cargo area,
as well as door bins to hold random kid stuff that seemed to float around the
FX's floor.

Because it was the dog days of summer during my test drive, my favorite
feature in the FX35 are the cooled front seats (part of the Premium Package).
There's nothing better than a great mountain drive with a Bose audio system
thumping my favorite XM channel and seats gracing me with the most gentle,
cooling breeze.

Speaking of the audio system, I loved the integrated iPod interface and
speed-sensitive volume control. I was easily able to surf through my playlists
using the steering-wheel-mounted controls - a huge bonus on those windy mountain
roads. When my driving mojo was interrupted by weekend mountain traffic, the FX
turned the volume down for me so I could carry on my deep conversation with my
passenger (you know, the kind that only happens without kids in the car).

See also:

Safety
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports its highest rating, Good,
for the FX in a frontal crash test, but it hasn't tested it for side impact or
roof strength. The FX hasn't been tested ...